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Peroxide Antimalarial Drugs Target Redox Homeostasis In Plasmodium Falciparum Infected Red Blood Cells, Ghizal Siddiqui, Carlo Giannangelo, Amanda De Paoli, Anna Katharina Schuh, Kim C. Heimsch, Dovile Anderson, Timothy G. Brown, Christopher A. Macraild, Jianbo Wu, Xiaofang Wang, Yuxiang Dong, Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, Katja Becker, Darren J. Creek

Journal Articles: Pharmaceutical Sciences

Plasmodium falciparum causes the most lethal form of malaria. Peroxide antimalarials based on artemisinin underpin the frontline treatments for malaria, but artemisinin resistance is rapidly spreading. Synthetic peroxide antimalarials, known as ozonides, are in clinical development and offer a potential alternative. Here, we used chemoproteomics to investigate the protein alkylation targets of artemisinin and ozonide probes, including an analogue of the ozonide clinical candidate, artefenomel. We greatly expanded the list of proteins alkylated by peroxide antimalarials and identified significant enrichment of redox-related proteins for both artemisinins and ozonides. Disrupted redox homeostasis was confirmed by dynamic live imaging of the glutathione …